Meteor Catastrophe missing scene
by Aka-Baka Hoshi
Summary: This is my take on Ban's perspective of what happened after the meteorite blew up. This is my first attempt at Ban, so please be kind. Suggestions are welcome, flames shall be used for s'mores.


DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TOKUSOU SENTAI DEKARANGER! I'm only playing with them.

I watched Meteor Catastrophe again and this popped into my head. Reviews are welcome.

I chose not to use speech tags for the voices of over the intercom (which is in italics) because I found that it flowed better. If anyone else doesn't think so, I'll go back and add them. No promises that they will be accurate, though.

* * *

Cheering with joy, Ban slipped back into his seat.

"Did you see that, partner? I did it! Mission complete, partner"

"_Respond, Ban. Ban. BAN!" Hoji cried._

"Huh? Can't you hear me?" Ban said. He checked the PA system. "Ah mou! All the systems got scrambled by the energy from the blast. Partner can't hear me." Hoji's next words distracted him.

"_Idiot…" Hoji said, his voice heavy with sadness "Why? Why did you…"_

"Partner," Ban said, awed. Hoji was sad, for him? He listened in silence to his partner's words.

"_There are plenty of replacements for me…" Hoji said. "With effort, anyone can act like me... But Ban, it's not that easy to replace you!"_

That's not true, Ban thought. Hoji is Hoji. Sure people can act like him, but it wouldn't be him. Why is he saying that?

"_Even though I passed the Tokkyou exams…even now, I feel like I've always lost to you."_

Eh? Ban thought. Partner feels that way…about me? And why does he sound like he's…

"_Even when separated from you…after a bit, I always thought that we'd be reunited. You are…To me you are the ultimate…the ultimate partner!"_

He really thought so? Ban thought, shocked. I had no idea…

The sound of Hoji's sobs came clearly through the loudspeaker. He's crying, Ban realized. He's crying because he thinks I'm dead. I'm dead, and he'll never get the chance to tell me any of this. He looked down, ashamed.

"Partner, I'm sorry," he whispered. A moment later, Hoji's breathing evened out, and his PATwing sped up, heading towards Earth, leaving Ban behind in the temporarily paralyzed PATwings. Ban turned off the PA system, then slumped in his seat.

"Sorry, partner. Guess I made you worry." He grinned. "Thanks for calling me 'partner,' even if you did think that I was dead." A beeping sound caught his attention. "Yay! The engines are back online! I can't go very fast just yet, but at least I can get moving!" Before he did so, though, he turned the PA system back on. "Even though I can't talk to them just yet, I still want to hear what they say." He turned his robo and slowly headed back to Earth.

"_This is Hoji."_

"_Hoji!"_

"_The large meteorite?"_

"_It's destruction was successful. There is no longer danger of it impacting."_

"_I see. Thank goodness."_

_Sighs of relief from Swan-san and the others sounded clearly through the loudspeakers._

"_But Ban is…" Hoji faltered, before continuing on, "Ban…has died in the line of duty."_

"_What?"_

"_No."_

"_Sempai has?"_

"_You're joking, right?"_

"_You ARE joking, right?"_

"_Why?"_

Ban grimaced. Too bad that my PA system's still down, he thought. Otherwise, I'd use it and tell them that he's wrong. But with the shape this robo is in, I can't do much right now.

"_This is Ban's…my partner's…battle of revenge!" Hoji yelled. "Unforgiveable!"_

Ban watched his partner's reckless behavior on his monitor. "Reckless partner," he muttered. "I'm not dead!" Though, he thought, it is kind of nice to know that he actually cares.

"_Okay, Hoji move away! I'll finish it!" Boss cried._

"_Roger!" Hoji replied._

"_Volcanic Buster!" Boss cried, activating Deka Base Robo's final attack. However, it proved futile against Browgouls._

"_What?!" Boss cried._

_Browgouls attacked the Robos as they stood shocked._

"_Curse you!" Boss said._

"_What's going on?"_

"_It's too strong."_

"_What should we do?"_

"_Even though Sempai gambled his life to protect the Earth!"_

"_You can't give up!" Swan-san said. "Combine the three Robo's energy into one."_

A beeping sounded in the cabin, and Ban was overjoyed to see that all his systems work working normally again. "Then let's do this!" he yelled over the open line.


End file.
